Santa Came Early This Year

Santa Claus visited our house early this year. Perhaps you can see why...where would we ever hide this huge thing?!? Danny has been looking on Craig's List forever for a Power Wheels for William. But not just any Power Wheels...it had to be something big, a two-seater (so his sister could ride too!), and of course it had to have a radio. William loves to play with the radio in the car. Finally, he found this Escalade on Craig's List, not too far from our house.

We went to go look at it, and quickly realized why the guy was selling it...he lived in a second floor apartment and it had to be carried down the stairs by himself and his wife, for his young son to use. The thing probably weighs 100lb. While we were there, 3 other potential buyers called, all fighting for it and offering to pay more money. Needless to say, we quickly said yes.

William is so happy about his new truck. When he calls his grandma or his great-grandma (Oma), all he can talk about is his 'big truck'. He gets in and out a million times, plays the radio, and even loads 'groceries' into the truck (canned goods from the pantry).

Doesn't he look small? :-)

Reusable Gift Wrap

For the first time, we will have reusable gift wrap under our Christmas tree! My mother has been doing this for years (I can't even remember a time when we had paper gift wrap!), and I decided I wanted to do it for my own family, so I made my own gift bags. These are all made from Christmas-themed cotton fabric. I started with 6 yards of cute printed cotton fabric, and cute each yard in half. I sewed the bags using a french seam, and they have a drawstring closure (sewed with a button hole and seams on each side of the button hole). To finish, the ties were made using sparkly silver and gold cording. So simple!

Now I will be able to cut the time I would normally spend wrapping Christmas presents by a fraction! Using these bags (and handmade gift tags that I made and will be able to use year after year as well), I could probably get all the Christmas wrapping done in about a half hour. And another great feature of the reusable bags is that odd-shaped presents are no longer a problem. You just stuff the bags, tie, and go!

Being A Parent

I realized something the other day, as I watched Danny and William dancing in the living room last night for over a half an hour. Our main purpose, Danny and I, is to be good parents to William and Violet.

Danny comes home from work every day, and literally the minute he gets home from work until Violet and William go to bed for the night, he spends it playing with William or holding Violet. Danny and William take hour-long baths together just about every night, playing with toys and splashing each other. Since Violet is 2 months old right now and not sleeping through the night, sometimes Danny will keep her with him until nearly 1am while he's watching tv or on the computer, so I can get a bit of extra sleep.

I think the most important thing a parent can do for their child is just to listen to them. Sometimes kids just want to be acknowledged. William talks to me all day long, and he does actually have things to say. Everything he observes, he wants to tell me what he is seeing. Whether it is an airplane out the car window, or a squirrel on the tree when we are taking a walk. If I am busy when he is trying to tell me something, I do my best to explain to him what I am doing at the moment, and that I will help him with what he needs or what he has to say, when I get the chance. It's funny, because a lot of the time when he says something, maybe a new word, he waits for me to repeat it and confirm to him that he was correct. Sometimes I don't understand what he's said right away, but if I listen a couple more times, usually I can pick it up (he is usually right, it's just that his pronunciation isn't always 100% for being a toddler!).

And even though she is so little, Violet looks so smart and inquisitive. The sleepless nights get easier as she responds more to my face during the day; she looks, laughs, and I bet she will be trying to say things or make little sounds any day now. At the beginning I was always having a hard time figuring out what she needed when she cried; but now I am doing my best to take the time and whenever I don't know what to do, I just hold her and that usually does the trick. Sometimes she just needs to relax before she goes to sleep.

It's great being a parent. Some days are a challenge, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Japanese Fabric Fat Quarter Swap

I am hosting a swap on Swap-bot.com (if you aren't already a member and love to trade, you've GOT to check this out!) for Japanese import fabrics. If you love this fabric and would like to participate in my swap, please visit this link for more information:

http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/24702

And, you can also convo me if you have any questions or need any help with the site.

Thanks and hope to see you there!

Happy Halloween!

This year, William was Spider-man during the day, and when we went trick-or-treating, he was a dragon. Violet was a princess in the pea (costume). I love Halloween!

I Voted

I participated in Early Voting on Friday. I voted for Barack Obama/Joe Biden. I did vote for Hillary in the primaries, since health care is a major issue for me (as it is for most people), but I was happy to cast my vote for Obama. I think early voting is a great idea, as there was no line and I was at the polling place probably all of 10 minutes. Anyone who is registered to vote should feel obligated to vote in this election...if I can manage to make it out with a newborn (who cried in my arms the whole time I was voting) and toddler, then anyone should be able to. ;-)

Pumpkin Farm

We went to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm yesterday in Hampshire, Illinois. It was over 80 degrees and really hot and sunny, so of course it was crowded. William and Violet got in for free, but Danny and I had to pay.

Besides all the pumpkins and gords for sale, there were a lot of animals in different areas for petting or feeding (chickens, ducks, llamas, rabbits, sheep, goats), pony rides, even a camel to ride. There were also several obstacles made out of wood for the kids to play on, such as a pirate ship, fire truck, and cars. William liked these the best. I was sort of surprised as when we got to the play area, I had to stay with Violet while Danny went to get something to drink, and William went and played by himself! Normally he would wait for me, or try to pull me in; never go in by himself. I guess it's good that he gets a bit independent and less shy around other kids.

We stayed for about an hour, and it was fun. I know it will be more fun next year, too, when Violet is just about old enough to walk and she can enjoy everything too (she slept in the stroller the whole time).

Bumgenius Cloth Diapers

I bought a ton of these cloth diapers, new and used, a few weeks ago, and...wow! We love using them. I'm not sure if you're familiar with cloth diapers, but we used to use prefolds with Snappis and Bummis diaper covers. They worked fine, but when you use an all-in-one pocket diaper like the Bumgenius 3.0, it's hard to go back to prefolds. :-)

These diapers make it real easy to go cloth. And they dry so quickly in the dryer, especially with wool dryer balls. There's actually no more "rock-paper-scissors" discussion after William's bath about who is going to put his diaper on and get him dressed...now Danny and I save that competition for the #2 diapers. ;-)

Grand Revival Flea Market Bag

Trying to make as many little projects as I can before the baby comes (due date: September 9th), I sewed up the Grand Revival Flea Market Bag last night. It seemed like it would be simple enough, with only 2 pattern pieces. I made several modifications to the instructions, though. I used fusible fleece interfacing for the lining (I used a mid-weight Amy Butler cotton print, Full Moon Sky from the Lotus line, for the interior), and for the exterior used fusible woven interlining (the exterior fabric is Amy Butler Nigella Water Lotus in Spinach). The pattern called for sew-in interlining instead. I also modified the pockets from the instructions.

Overall, this pattern would be easy enough for someone beginning at sewing. The instructions were clear. However, I found it slightly awkward to finish the raw edges of the handles and corners of the bag at the very end. I would rather have sewn the handles right sides together somewhere in the middle of finishing the bag, instead of pressing them under 1/2 inch at the end and just topstitching them. Maybe that's just me.

I would definitely use this sewing pattern again, perhaps to make the smaller bag, as this patterns allows for 4 different styles of bag (8 in all, if you count that it can also be made with petal/tied straps).

Shampoo

I just wanted to rave about this great shampoo that I use, from a seller on Etsy. Her shop is Goddess Naturals. I first bought a bottle of her Lemongrass shampoo near the end of 2007, because it is so hard to find a sulphate-free shampoo at the store. I had been reading about people going shampoo-free, but felt that I wasn't ready for that leap, so I went in search of a more natural shampoo. I use chemical-free and organic products for my son's bath products (I LOVE Earth Mama Angel Baby), so I thought I should do the same for myself.

For the first week and a half using this new shampoo, my hair still felt slightly greasy at the roots after taking a shower. I had heard that temporary greasiness occurred for people that stopped using shampoo in favor of vinegar rinses and such, so I decided to stick with this shampoo for a little longer. I am definitely glad that I did! I cannot say enough wonderful things about this shampoo (I just got 8 more bottles last week!). I have thin, wavy hair which I flat iron about 3 times a week. I used to color my hair once a month to give it more body since it felt so thin, but not anymore...now it always looks shiny and healthy, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I no longer have the breakage and split ends that my flat iron used to give me.

If you have a spare moment, visit this super-nice Etsy seller's shop; besides wonderful products, there is a wealth of information about the essential oils Carrieann uses in her products. Also, there is information about what harm chemicals (such as the ones in commercial shampoo) can do to your health. In addition to the shampoo, I am also a faithful user of the tooth powder.

The other day, I actually found out that people were talking about me behind my back at work...they had a vote on who had the best hair, and I won.

What I'm Reading Right Now...

Danny got me a bunch of books for our anniversary, but this book, "This Charming Man," by Marian Keyes, wasn't released until June 23rd so I just started reading it last week. I don't read much chick lit anymore, but Marian Keyes is one of the authors that has stuck with me (in addition to Lisa Jewell and Anna Maxted) because I think all of her novels are so good.

I had a little trouble getting into the book at first because one of the narrators, Lola Daly, talks in a sort of shorthand that is awkward to read. But the novel visits several narrators: Lola, a stylist; Marnie, a wife and mother to two little girls; Grace, a journalist; and Alicia, newly engaged to a prominent politician named Paddy de Courcy. And soon I was moving quickly through the pages, at the speed which I used to read books before becoming a mom. ;-) Marian Keyes takes the reader through each of these characters' lives, and I spent much of the book wondering how they were connected. Although this book deals with a serious subject, there were a lot of hilarious things going on to balance it out (such as Lola hosting weekly 'trannie' events). All-in-all it was a great read, and definitely holds its own alongside her other novels, such as Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday.

I had such a good time reading this book that I hesitate to start on the next one too quickly, but know that I must do so soon enough as our daughter is due to be born in about two months and when that time comes there will be no reading of books for some time. :-)

Amy Butler Birdie Sling

I decided to make a bag the other night. I had read some reviews on-line about Amy Butler's Birdie Sling sewing pattern. I liked the look of the bag, but the reviews from other sewers all said that the bag was too big. Since I was just looking for a new purse, and not a diaper bag or beach bag, I decided to make my bag smaller. So I reduced the pattern pieces to 75% on a copy machine before I began.

I appreciated the ease of the directions, and I thought the interlinings that the pattern called for worked well for this type of bag. However, the way the instructions tell you to cut out your fabrics, is a way which wastes a lot of fabric. I used at least half of the amount called for (also taking into consideration that I was working with smaller pattern pieces) by cutting out my pieces differently than instructed.

I used 2 fabrics from Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate Lollipop, and for the inside of the bag I used Alexander Henry's Hot Dot in Ice Blue. The bag took approximately 5 hours to make from start to finish. Initially I began putting a snap closure in, but took it out because I like the way the bag lays without a closure. I'm really happy with how it turned out! What do you think?

Despite the full-sized pattern making a very large bag, I think I will try one next time, that I can use for a diaper bag or day bag!